Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a notable greenhouse gas and rising concentrations of atmospheric CO2 is a pressing global environmental issue. Accordingly, mechanisms for converting, breaking down, or otherwise altering CO2 into non-harmful or even useful products are greatly desired. For example, CO2 can be considered as a C1 chemical building block. As such, conversion of CO2 into useful chemical feedstock by homogeneous or heterogeneous catalysis is one mitigation approach that is receiving significant scientific inquiry. To this end, the pyridinium ion has been shown to electrocatalytically reduce CO2 to methanol with palladium (Pd) or platinum (Pt) electrodes. However, current methods for transformation of CO2 typically require expensive components like platinum or palladium or difficult reaction chemistries. Accordingly, there is a need for novel reactants and reaction pathways for the conversion of CO2.